Rhetorical Precis Comics and Pictures

Roy T. Cook in the article Do Comics Require Pictures? Or Why Batman #662 Is a Comic is looking for an overarching definition of comics while taking the side that a comic needs to have pictures. The author starts with the view done by another author Scott McCloud and then begins to examine the comic Batman #663 and develops multiple definitons of a comic. The author writes the paper to establish different views on a definition of a comic book and the importance pictures play in the definition and in order to direct the definition he uses the issue of Batman #663 to help define comics. The audience intended by the author are those people who are interested in comics.

TED Prison Sentences

<p>The video was about how the people can change the system that is being used to incarcerate people primarily of ethnic minorities. He opened with his background and a storyof his grandma to entice the audience. He used the story to lead into what he was going to be talking about because of his family's history in slavery. he then told of how his grandmother would tell each of the children that they were special and that they could do anything and make them promise that they would always love their mother and do the right thing and never drink alcohol. That story is what grabbed my attention and made me pay more attention to the video. He then started with the true intentions of the speech which was how the court system is incarcerating more people and the tie that it still has to ethnicity. He shared a story of a court case in which he said that the judge must have some sort of magical powers to change the status of the child in the court case allowing them to be tried as an adult. So he thought that if that was true then it could be the same for the opposite, he asked the judgeif he would be able to try the child as a rich white man which only angered the judge. The final part of the speech was about him being asked questions about the subject and what people can do to help. The speaker answed with reference to the problem with the use of the three strike rule in California and that he is working to get that law removed. The final question asked was about the decrease in the crime rates. The speaker replied with that the decrease is not in the violent category of the offenders but the majority of the people incarcerated are there due to the crackdown on drugs.

NY Times Article Summary

The article published in the New York Times "The Cancer Lobby" is all about the possible cancer causing formaldehyde. It starts with a strong pathos appeal to the reader by citing a study. That study said that nearly all homes had formaldehyde concentrations that exceeded the normal guide lines. In the article it tells how companies are trying to delay the test results because the reputation is on the line. This tactic is compared to the same one that is used by tobacco companies. The author ends the article with a comparison to another cancer causing problem from the past esbestos. He says that this is the same thing that happened with esbestos and the result is the suffering of people in the current times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/opinion/sunday/kristof-the-cancer-lobby.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Why Men Fail

The article "Why Men Fail" has a lot of useful information. It tells the reasons that men in today's economy are more likely to be less successful than women. This is especially appealing to me because I am in this situation. It begins by stating that boy in elementary through high school get the majority of the D's and F's. This is shown to carry on into college with men only getting 40 percent of the degrees. This article references another article on the same subject entitled "The End of Men". In that article it says more on the subject by explaining the end of men is based on the ability to adapt. With that being said it states that women are more open to the idea of change while men are reluctant it because of the prior gender separation. With women more likely to accept change they have adapted to a more dominate role in the current economy. This article is showing the difference in how the future may change to a more female dominate society instead of the usual thought that men are in charge.

Presidential debate

On Wednesday the presidential candidates had their first debate. By watching the debate I believe that the winner of the debate was governor Romney. He with every response had a clearly outlined response such as when he explained his five point plan. Although president Obama tried to get on the offensive early governor Romney was prepared. The way each of the opponents carried themselves was even different. Obama was more passive while Romney was more aggressive. That alone could help people decide who they are going to vote for. But everytime Obama would say something about Romney he would have something to say about how he was wrong. Romney may not be the better candidate for everyone but in this debate I believe he was the winner.

New Rules

The article published in the New York Times entitled "New Rules" is about the importance of education. He starts by explaining that in Estonia they are teaching the kids in school how to program. This is important because the future is filled with jobs that are primarily based on technology. The article then starts to speculate that that might be the new standard of teaching. This is because with all the jobs starting to rely on technology the people who are doing the hiring are looking for people who are already trained. The employers are looking for people who are "Ready Now" which means that they have the necessary skills required for the job and that is what the schools are preparing them for. The article explains more into what is required for people to get a job. It explains more into the unemployment rates showing that people with 4 years of college have a 4.1% unemployment while on the opposite end dropouts have a 12% unemployment rate. The article then ends by saying that "the illiterate will not be defined by their inability to read but by their inability to learn and relearn".

3 Questions

In the papers it is possible to be biased will that be part of the grade?
Will the papers be marked down if the papers are longer than three pages?
Does the information that is cited in the video need to b cited in the paper or is the citation of the video god enough?

Obama Video

Plagiarism Precis

In the article "Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age" (2010) by Trip Gabriel he implies that due to modern technology plagiarism in schools are on the rise. He uses examples and studies from reliable sources to support his thesis. Min order to emphasize the point of how common plagiarism is many different professionals are quoted on the subject. The article is meant for to he used by teachers and students so the serious problem of plagiarism could be brought to their attention so it can be prevented.

Occupy Art Image

The picture is one example of visual rhetoric. The first thing that grabs my attention is the use of the Lion King characters. The use of the destroyed land in the image is used to reinforce a strong message. The message is that the we need to take care of the land that we live on because if we don't it could look like this. The important part of the picture is the use of the characters from Lion King. The scene from Lion King that the image is immitating is early in the movie and people will remember that when Mufasa talks to Simba about the land it is beautiful but this picture shows the land destroyed. The use of the black colors in the image stand out and have an important meaning. The black colors show that the land is destroyed and was not taken care of. The use of the color is also important because it directs the attention of the viewer. The bright color of the animals first grabs the attention but as the viewer looks at the black part they would notice that the land is destroyed. The text that is used in the image is an original quote from the Lion King movie. It says,"one day, son, this will all be yours...". These words affect the viewer if they have seen the movie because those words remind them of the scene in which all the land was still beautiful but in the picture all the land is destroyed. With all the emphasis on the destroyed land they are trying to get an important message across. That message is that if we don't take care of the earth while we can it will be a world no one will want. This is what provides the pathos for the picture. The destroyed land affects people emotionally. Those elements make good use of the visual rhetoric so it can appeal to people.

Analyzing Visual Rhetoric

On top of the speeches that were given two videos were also played to help gain more voters. When watching the video before Romney's speech what stood out to me was the use of the olympic athletes. With the recent end of the summer olympics in london a lot of people were still in the mood of cheering on their country. So when it said how he helped with the winter olympics that were held in the united states a lot of people could rally behind him. But in Obama's speech what stood out to me was how he used the videos of him shaking the workers hands. This stood out because I saw it as an attempt to appeal to the common working class person. I think that for Obama what was more improtant was that he was appealing to be a president that stood for the common worker. While Romney what seemed to be important in the video was that he used thefact that while a govenor he kept all his promises and made his state better. But each video how the part that could've been left out because it wasn't important. the least important part in my opinion for each video was the same. It was the use of their marriage and home lives that was the least important. With all visual campaigning the color choice is very important and since it is for the presidency the obvious choice is to use the colors red white and blue. Throughout the  video Obama and Romney are placed in the center of the shot to be the focal point of the people watching. In the videos the use of text are to emphasize the important facts. Those facts were to back up the overall argument of the video. In Obama's video it was that he would do what is right even if it's at the cost of his image. But Romney took a more direct approach and used facts to emphasize his previous success and show that they could be applied on a large scale to the whole United States.

Michele Obama and Ann Romney Speech Response

Michelle Obama and Ann Romney both had speeches that had important messages. Although the speech each given had a dfferent purpose I found that they each shared some similarities. By being the fist lady I think that was all the ethos that was needed for her. Her many stories about poverty also helped with the ethos of her speech allowing people to relate to her stories and decide the credability for themselves. What her speech wasn't lacking was the pathos. She used all of the time talking about the problems that affect most people to appeal to their emotions. Ann Romney had a very similar speech to  Michelle Obama hitting some of the same points. She uses the pathos in her speech to show her motherly and nurturing side. Being a speech primarily used to promote their husbands as a presidential candidates makes me think that it is not their job to have all the ethos and logos in their speech so those shouldn't be the basis of what they are judged by. Not being very political I found that each speech when looked at with  the bias of a predetermined political standing made the presidential candidates each stand out as the only choice. Though with the lacking of the logos portion of their speeches this has no major significance in the choices that should be made. My thoughts on the speech was that it was to gain face with the voters to open their eyes more to the candidate in which they should choose.

Choices 2.0 chapter 3

Chapter 3 is centered around the idea of supporting the ideas presented in your thesis. Hardin shows many diferent ways to be credible when it comes to writing something. Each of the methods that can be used to establish credability and have a specific method for them to work. What is sugested is that no one method of establish credability with your reader is enough and should be combined with other forms to make what you say believable. The way that the information is presened in the chapter is a good way to demonstrate the methods that are taught. The author makes use of his own credability and builds off of that to develop a relationship in which the reader believes what is said.

The end of forgetting

I think that the article was very good and opened my eyes to new views. I have always put no information on any pages except what is required to access the website. The article shows how easy it is to access the information about someone. When it uses the example about how netflix and other websites use what has been accessed to determined what could interest you. When the article says how some people have been fired from their job because of posts on facebook that is wrong. The service that they have for people to erase their online identity is a good tool. When the job requires a background check for people to get a job They should have a separation of what happens at work and what happens at home. Sometimes a background check of facebook could help because it could show that a person is unemployable because the use of drugs and alcohol.

Gaming Video Response

Jane McGonigal made a good and valid argument with her video. Having a phd helped with her ethos and made everything that she said that much more valid. She then presents all of her evidence in a rational order. The starting point of the sheep bone dice as the first game represented a possiblity to the reason why people should play more games. She also presented her information in terms of things all people know. She compares the time a person spends playing video games until the age of 21 with the total time a person is in school which both equal about 10,000 hours. She also recognizes the amount of time people play a week but saw how that could be used for the greater good of people everywhere. She shows that the interactions that are made by people who play video games and the skills that they develop can be directly transfered to real world skills. In her speech she also brings in more credibility in the form of Castranova an economist. As she pointed out in her speech she may seem as though her view is skewed on the subject because that is what her career choice is. But when her information is backed by an economist her ideas and self interests are no longer a question and she is able to move onto her projects associated with the subject. She made three games that are associated with making the world a better place by playing video games. The concepts of all the games are to help people understand real world problems and how they can make it a better place. I think that what she says all has some credibility but I see one big problem with her whole view. If she expects people to play video games each day how can the skills that are learned be transferred into real life.